yck
2
esta es la link original
http://pub20.ezboard.com/fkingofpopdiscussionnewsandreviews.showMessage?topicID=12022.topic
http://pub20.ezboard.com/fkingofpopdiscussionnewsandreviews.showMessage?topicID=12022.topic
Boy, a fifth grader could have done a better job at guessing (and I do mean guessing because that is exactly what they have done) MJ's revenue from his albums and tours.
Without divulging anything I am privy to, it is quite easy for anyone to see how these figures have been estimated and what a total joke they are.
Forbes has used the following sales figures for the albums:
OTW - 17.5m
Thriller - 54.5m
Bad - 27m
Dangerous - 27m
HIStory – 16.5m
BOTDF ~ 5m
Invincible - 7m
Then, across the board, they have decided the MJ's royalty is $2.12 an album. They have then simply multiplied the album sales by this amount to try and calculate revenue for each album.
This gives totally incorrect figures for the following reasons:
1) It is impossible that any artists, and especially MJ, would receive the same $ value per albums spanning 23 years, because;
a) Album prices go up, as with any goods
b) The amount made per unit sold (album) has additionally increased, by a significant amount, in the last 13 years due to the advent of CD's due to this format’s higher retail value.
c) Any successful artists over this time period (as is common knowledge that MJ has) would re-negotiate their contract for a higher royalty rate.
d) HIStory was a double album and had a dealer price of round 70% greater than a single album of the time. Thus the royalties generated were also round 70% higher per unit. But this 5th grader, in the Forbes article, estimated that HIStory would bring in the same revenue and thus royalties, per unit sold, as OTW. Priceless!
2) MJ's 1991 Sony contract was made very public. So again without breaking any confidences, it is public record that that contract provides for royalties of 27% of retail price (41% wholesale). According to numerous leaks from Sony, in recent weeks, that figure is now closer to 50% wholesale which equates to 33% of retail. Thus clearly their estimates for royalties brought in from the Dangerous album, onwards, are an absolute mile out. For instance, if you do the math, you’ll find that HIStory actually brought in over four times the royalties estimated by Forbes; taking an average retail price for the CD (which accounted for more that 80% of HIStory’s format sales) of $19 in the US and $30 overseas).
3) The Forbes article seems to forget, or does not realise, that MJ brings in considerable additional royalties from production and song-writing on his albums.
4) The obviously have absolutely no idea of what MJ’s true assets are (they’ve only listed what the 411 have focused on) because they do not even list the MIJAC publishing catalogue.
5) $100m from tours! Bad grossed $123m, Dangerous $125m, HIStory $178 and $10m from the MSG concerts; a total of $437 (Michael donated all of his proceedings from the Victory tour to charity). Most of the tour costs for both the Bad and Dangerous tours were underwritten by Pepsi who comfortably made that money back, and then some, by concessions, at the stadiums, and increased market share, for a period of time, in any country the tours visited. Additionally, the above figures only account for ticket sales and not merchandise or the considerable fee HBO paid for the broadcasting rights to the Dangerous concert in Bucharest, and indeed the numerous fees which have been paid the world over to broadcast numerous shows from the various tours.
In short this article has been written by someone who has demonstrated both no understanding of the mechanics of the music industry (and is obviously too lazy to research properly the subject matter) and obviously has no contacts.
The only entity, here, which has fallen from its 80’s hay-day, is Forbes magazine.